As any birder will know a 'family holiday' means you have to put in a few early mornings then try and sell a far away area to non-birders (normally by making stuff up; like there is a good clothes shop there etc) just so you can go there yourself!
I must be honest, I only had one morning birding and then 2 half days so the list from the trip isn't very impressive and neither are the photos! The majority are record shots but I did connect with some fantastic birds that I never anticipated seeing, especially in mid summer in 40 degrees!
I managed to get 12 lifers if the Steppe Buzzard is indeed one (it probs isn't though - take a look and let me know!). The biggest misses were; Roller, Black headed bunting, Kruplers nuthatch, Finsch's Wheatear and Pied Kingfisher.
Here is what lifers I did see;
Syrian Woodpecker - A complete surpirse as it flew past me calling then landed in a distant tree.
Cinereous Bunting - located a few in the hills surrounding Izmir.
Rock Nuthatch - thought I was going to miss out on this but on the last outing I bumped into a pair near Izmir, what great birds (very noisy and very active!).
Rock Partridge - located just outside Bodrum, very flighty!
Great Spotted Cuckoo - one seen whilst working a river near Bodrum airport.
White-Throated Kindfisher - pair seen just before the GSCuckoo - massive noisy things!
Rufous Bush Robin - several seen in the scrub along the river near the airport.
Masked Shrike - seen from the car on an unstopable motorway! really frustrating as it was a fanstastic looking bird!
Pygmy Cormorant - distant views on Bafa Lake
Dalmatian Pelican - distant views on Bafa Lake
White throated Robin - stunning male seen in flight in the hills surround Ismir. Female perched briefly but both were really flighty.
And now for some record shots:
Rock Nuthatch:
Cinereous Bunting:
Black Eared Wheatear (juv):
European Bee-eater:
Greater Flamingos:
Great Spotted Cuckoo:
Little Owl:
Dalmatian Pelican:
Red-Rumped Swallow:
Rufous Bush Robin (first photo shows it with agama lizard):
Steppe Buzzrd?? not sure about this and I'm mainly going on distribution - help please!?
Syrian Woodpecker:
Tortoise:
White Breasted Kingfisher (dreadful photo - I know!):
I did get some photos I was happy with. They were all of praying mantids though. I found 4 throughout the holiday including 2 big adults! Those photos will be in a seperate post soon...
I'm happy with my bird sightings over the holiday considering the time I had availble and the time of year! I think it would be great to visit in spring and I'm sure somewhere along the line I will go back for a proper birding trip with the guys!
